Press Pause

Posted on Sunday, April 6th, 2014.

The break was nice. Sometimes it’s nice to step away from this blog (and all blogs), social media, email, and let other projects fill the days and lessen the burden that having an online life sometimes brings with it. Just…stop for a while. Press pause. And you know what? I didn’t really feel much like coming back. What do I have to say? My writing muscles feel like they’ve atrophied a bit and I’m out of the habit. And also…I’m, like, really *really* so tired of most blogs right now. That’s a tangent I could really let myself go off on, and maybe I will later, but suffice to say that I stopped blogging altogether in order to avoid keeping an online space that I haven’t felt much like reading lately.

But then I remembered that I like having an account of my life here and that I can make this anything I want it to. And what I want it to be is more personal. More life and less “stuff” (though some stuff is awesome and has to be shared).

So what have I been up to?

Watching springtime come to life in my neighborhood, and what a sight it is to see. Warm sunshine, green everywhere, trees and bushes in bloom, and flowers popping up all over. It’s our first spring in our new home and so far, I am thoroughly impressed with our surroundings. Mature and diverse plant life that keeps surprising me; everyday something new to see that’s popped overnight. We have a dogwood tree in our front yard that has generously offered up clippings to take inside for the prettiest and simplest impromptu flower arrangements. And wisteria popped up overnight this week all along the huge, ivy-covered pines in our backyard. I literally gasped when I saw – I’ve always wanted wisteria of my own and it’s such a sight to see it climb up so high. I find myself marveling at it, catching glimpses every time I pass by any of the windows on the back of our house.

Exhausting myself working around the house. In the best way. :) Finally got all my interior doors finished and hung, with new door knobs and everything. I’ll do a whole post on this later, but what I did was take our existing 1958 hollow core, flat wood doors (like these), added strips of wood around the top, sides, bottom, and middle, then painted them all white to make them look like shaker doors (like these). It was a ton of work (and involved tears as you may have seen), but they look so nice now that they’re all up. (All except one, in which I did the wrong side and need to do again….at some point.)

Spending time being thankful for my husband. It really doesn’t get much better than him. How I got so lucky, I will never, ever know.

Cooking in my finished kitchen. It’s all done. And it’s so pretty. Want to see? I’ll be sure to post those pictures next week. Pinky promise.

Hostingdinner for family and friends now that the kitchen (and rest of the house) is more presentable. Enjoying company in our new, mostly finished space has been nice. Laughing and exchanging stories. Eating and drinking around the table my dad and I built together. Hoping to do lots more of that since sometimes cooking for others and gathering around a table is just what the soul needs to feel connected to others.

Showering in our new finished bathroom (this is a sneak peek above, with some daffodils I had such a hard time letting go of when they started to die). We went a month without a shower in our house. A MONTH. But it was great because I got to see my parents almost every day and they made us dinner and offered up good company on our daily trips. But it’s nice to have a finished bathroom now. And…oh my…it’s sooooopretty. I can’t wait to share those pictures either.

Spring cleaning. Clearing out, deep cleaning, de-cluttering. Feels good. Next I tackle that basement, which we sort of tackled a few months ago, but I’m in the mood to clear out even more now. It’s been long enough that I’ve forgotten about a lot of things down there and if they’re forgotten, I shouldn’t have a hard time parting with them. (Right?!)

Walking with Frank through the neighborhood and the woods to see what new growth spring has to show us that day. A few days last week I went jacket-less in the morning and it felt so good and so familiar to feel the warm air on my skin again. I’m trying to appreciate it and be present because I know how Georgia is – it’s gonna get real hot, real quick and I’ll be missing these spring days.

That’s about it! I’ll try to get back to a more regular posting schedule. If for no one else than my mom who hassles me when I haven’t posted in a while. ;)

3 Responses to “Press Pause”

That wisteria is gorgeous! You are so lucky spring is coming for you guys. Here in Michigan it is definitely warming up, but I’m not seeing any flowers popping out yet. Grocery store flowers will have to suffice for now. I’m looking forward to more of your house reno posts! Love seeing what you’re doing + what you’ve done.

Also, sometimes I know how you feel about blogs + how annoying they can be. I have seriously pared down how much I read them + which ones I read. Sometimes I just can’t get over the ‘fakeness’ for lack of a better word. I’m glad YOU are back though!